It's a quiet afternoon here in Sonny's North Carolina. Brief rain moistens of the earth yesterday evening, and today the skies clear and pleasant, with small birds singing in the branches and an abundance of greenery on every hand. I took Maggie the dog across town to a bend in the Eno River called fuse ford, where she greatly enjoyed doubling her toes and dipping the rest of her self among the rapids deep in the state park part of the Eno. The new floor on the tool shed is almost complete a precise array of shiny pressure-treated joists is perfectly installed and footers of been poured to anchor the joists to a frame and the frame to the ground and of course to the walls.

By and large, I am very satisfied with my decision to remove from Southern California to North Carolina. My happiness will be complete when I find totally effective barrier against mosquitoes and midges for summer use.

Spring-mounted urinals. Back when Ma Bell was the only game in town, that construction would have been forward-thinking and revolutionary. There was an old WWII bomb shelter in the woods near my middle school, a popular exploration spot for neighborhood kids. Down the hill in a wooded ravine.

MOM, I'm sorry no on else has been by to see you today. Here's a plate of roasted chicken, some pan fried potatoes, green peas, and a glass of Merlot. A friend suggested this would make a nice dinner (that he's having tonight). There is no smellivision on the Internet, but I have done my best to reproduce that menu.

I live in a peaceful zone, Rapp. In my county alone we probably have enough armament to fend off any incursion from Delaware and Virginia. South Carolina won't move and Florida will have drowned by the time anyone gets out of their high-rise with their walker. Especially if the apocalypse comes on a Saturday.

An interesting question: what day of the week do you think the apocalypse will occur on? Surely not on a weekend! That would be too cruel. Maybe on a humpday Wednesday?

Depends, Amos. For it is written that "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last." And it is also written that John had his Apocalyptic Vision on "the Lord's Day." And it is from these things that we can determine that the End will come on the day we call "Sunday" or the Day of the Sun. For in some nations and lands Sunday is indeed the first day of the week, and among others, such as the land of the French, Sunday is the last day of the week. And it has been known as "The Lord's Day" per omnia sacula sacularum. And so it is indeed the First and the Last, the Alpha and Omega of days, and the day upon which John the Apostle, John the Divine, had his vision on Patmos. And so The End will come on a Sunday. And the Elect shall be raised up in garments white like wool, white like the snow, and the Lord shall say unto the Elect with a voice like unto a brass trumpet in Bb, "Git thee outa here, you elected politicians, who are like unto whiten sepulchers filled with offal, and take thou those robes off and give them unto the folk singers, the banjoists, the accordionists, players of the bodhrán, to the guitarists and fiddlers, to the harpists and the pipers and all of the scorned and despised of the Earth. Now git before I gotta smite thee!"

But here, Mom, is a nice breakfast in bed that will take care of that nasty old hangover. Two fried eggs, sunny side up; toast burned just like you like it; sludgy coffee, and your favorite hangover cure: tomato juice with a raw egg in it! Oh! I'll be right back with the pickled pigs' tails and the pickled eggs!

Mom, It's summer and Amos is out hitting the bars, Acme is supplying anvils to Wile E. Coyote, gnu has been taken by skeeters and sich, Bee-Dubya-Ell is back on pot, and who knows what the others are up to? I travel, yes, but I carry a laptop when I do so that I am almost never out of contact with dear, sweet, lush, MOAB. I even take a printer with me so that Mom's words of wisdom, her pearls of great price, will not be lost but will be ensconced forever on fine vellum punch tape. I will provide for your needs Mom MOAB!!

Yes, I'm back on pot. I'm currently in Indiana Amish country. We set our booth up today and will be selling pots for the next four days.

Then we are taking a side trip up to Lansing, Michigan to visit Elderly Instruments 'cause my wife needs a new bodhran. I am not going to buy anything. Oh, maybe some strings and a new Dobro slide, but no instruments. Oh, I may test drive a few, but I'm not buying. Seriously. No kidding....

BWL and the Super Aliens can agree on at least one thing. There ain't nothing quite like Willie and Merle in tandem. Rapp, of course, will scramble around trying to find some supercilious superiority to assert into the fray, but we know in our hearts who is right.

Yes, Rap, we're exhibiting at the Amish Acres Festival in Nappanee and staying in Goshen. We've been doing the show for 14 years. Used to be ten or so potters here, but they've all dropped out, so now we get all the pot money.

Bee-Dub, that was my stamping grounds for 18 years. Say "Hi" to it for me. Hint: the folks are all Amish and such, so don't go for a "buggy ride" or you might not come back -- they have "ways" of dealing with the recalcitrant.

I cooked up a storm today, preparing to host a family birthday party tomorrow. Everyone had a birthday this year, so it'll be for all of us. :) An old friend is in town and most of her family (who live around here) will be over, so we chose to do it when the all can attend. I'm sure I'll be very tired tomorrow, moreso than right now. MOM's job tomorrow will be to keep track of spoons in the various dishes and sauce containers.

Gee. Took me a while to catch up. Kinda busy and thought-occupied for a while so I have just been goofing off on yer Facebook when the opportunity arose. Glad to see everyone is still here even if they ain't all there.

Now... what did I come in here for? Oh... yeah... my glasses. Don't see 'em. I'll look in the kitchen.

Less than twelve hours from OBLIVION! Mom, whatever are you dr/thinking? You know you have to get up and do something about the fire. Get your friend Issa to help -- this started on Shoshone-Bannock land so he should be okay with it.

Sometimes a power line Company owns the right of way and sells the underground property to pipeline utilities. Where it is convenient gas lines are buried 10 to 15 feet under power lines. So we are hanging out in a residential neighborhood when we hear explosions in the back yard. A power line had fallen from one of those giant robot like metal towers and was blasting large chunks of dirt and rocks where it dances around and touches the ground. The power line is like a mad dog on a chain so we know how close we can get without getting struck. Before long a gapping 12 foot hole was blasted open with an electricity I can not fathom. Then Kabooom a gas line opens up sending flames 50 feet into the air. We were way too close for that but the stupid and the brave held their ground. At least it wasn't raining.

Rapaire we do not get news of fires like yours unless they effect our commute. Oblivion can be a bitch. Be Careful. If not careful be prepared. If not prepared, buy some marshmallows.

It's called the "Power Line Fire" because the fire started pretty much on the Power County boundary line. There are not, as far as I know, any high-voltage lines or buried gas pipelines up there. For one thing, the Bannock Range (where the fire is) goes up to 9,300 feet. For another, it's pretty rough country there (pull the map down to move north along I-15, then west of Pocatello).

I'm concerned about what the fire might do to the "industrial containment ponds" at the north end of the range. That's waste from phosphate mining and includes stuff that can burst into flame on exposure to air. Not at all cool!

If you want more predictive prowess there are real time ground level wind current maps for the US among other specialized earth maps. The EPA has been muzzled and may not give you all the information they normally could but they might help. No one expects you will get burned any more than 'personne ne s'attend à ce que l'inquisition espagnole'.

This is updated as needed, or at least twice daily. There was 0.17 inches of rain at the NWS facility at the airport yesterday. The problem with surface winds is that they can't really be predicted for the draws, gulleys, and other surface features the fire is in. In a general way, yes, but one draw might pull the breeze up and another down, and the wind can be funneled by them for greater force.

I have been warning everyone (and attempting to get people who care enlisted in Earth's forces) about the so-called "eclipse" on August 21.

You will be relieved to know that Their base on Neith has been found and destroyed.

We are now looking for Their forward base on Lilith. But do not fear! Earth's mighty defensive artillery (cleverly camouflaged as historic cannons) will wipe that blight from the Universe as well just as soon as it is found.

After time for rest and recovery from the family party, I am still processing extra food. Things are going into the freezer parceled in a way that will contribute to meals for weeks to come. MOM has been offering tidbits to the dogs, who love to lick bowls and pick up bits dropped on the kitchen floor. Alas, she slipped on a piece of chicken and toppled backwards over Zeke who was lurking nearby. Before she could get up all three dogs were in her face giving her kisses and nudges. Around here, if you're at their level, you get kissed. That's just all there is to it.

Destruction of the moon Neith. Us Earthlings blasted it out of existence. To protect the sensibilities of the weak among us, the destruction was cleverly billed as a meteorite exploding in Earth's atmosphere. Next up, Lilith! That's going to be harder because Lilith is always 180° to Earth's position -- that is, always behind the Sun relative to Earth. We may try a bank shot off of Mercury.

It is a folkclipse -- They do not make a differentiation between male and female as They eat barbecued Earthling.

That's it. I'm finished. I'm getting out the 12 gauge. The flowers in the boxes along the deck rail become all dry and stuff even though I water them ever other day, water them quite thoroughly. Yesterday evening I again saw a hummingbird stick its beak into one and it dawned on me that it was sucking the life force out of the flower.

Actually, trees have been dynamited to fight forest fires. Buildings were dynamited to fight the fires started during the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. So if you have a gun big enough you could shoot down the trees and create a firebreak. The problem is that wildfires aren't just in forests, but grasslands and scrub brush as well. Shooting a sagebrush is kinda futile.

Its all absolutely true according to my own sci fi fantasy chronicles. While the Alien hybrids spread rapidly through the Chinese population in ancient opaque history, India experienced the aliens only second hand by capturing alien technology. We know how that turned out. Incidentally; In those times elephants were equal to men in intelligence, hence the religious significance. Elephants helped build 5o story high temples in India but in breeding sapped them of their intelligence by the end of that epoch.